Love, Sasuke
by Starburst357
Summary: Told in Sasuke's POV. A mysterious girl turns up in the forest outside of the Leaf Village. She's from the Village Hidden in the Vines, but why is she so terrified to admit it?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This first chapter is the introduction. It is set when Sasuke leaves the Leaf Village in search lot Orochimaru. The next chapter will skip back to shortly after Squad 7's mission to escort the bridge builder to the Land of the Waves, and the story will begin then.

Sasuke's POV

"You're annoying," I told Sakura. Knowing how much it would hurt her. Knowing that she would throw away everything, just to make me happy. I felt a savage pleasure course through me as I said those words.

Orochimaru may be evil, but he is the only way I can obtain enough power to finally kill my brother.

I'm sorry, Kawai.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and I soared through the trees. It was shortly after our mission to guard the bridge maker, and things were beginning to go back to normal again. We were on a D-Rank mission to find someone's lost sheep.

"Over there! I see something!" Naruto shouted to us. I looked at where he was pointing. There was something there, all right. But it wasn't a sheep.

As we neared the object, I began to see it clearly. It was purple, with a purple ribbon lying next to it. No wait... It was a girl! She seemed to be sleeping on the forest floor.

Kakashi signaled for us to stop. He motioned to be quiet. This girl wasn't form our village, and she could be dangerous.

Now that we were even closer, I could make out all the details. She was blonde, wearing a purple dress, with black leggings and shoes. Her purple ribbon was lying in the grass next to her. What's more, she looked half starved. Her face was covered in scratches, and her dress was torn to shreds.

She was definitely a ninja. I could see her headband, though I couldn't make out what village she was from.

We slowly crept nearer to the girl. I could hear her breathing, ragged and short, as if she had been running for miles.

When we were a mere few feet away, she suddenly jumped up. Grabbing her ribbon, the girl whirled around to face us with wide brown eyes. She looked terrified.

Kakashi stepped out into the open and held his hands up.

"It's okay," he told her, "We're not going to hurt you. You're from the Village Hidden in the Vines, aren't you?"

I looked at her headband. It had three vertical squiggly lines on it, the symbol of the Vine Village.

The girl glanced up at her brow. If anything, she looked even more scared.

"No!" she choked out. "I'm not from the Vine Village!" She turned on her heel and raced away. "Leave me alone!"


	3. Chapter 3

"That was... unusual," I commented. Sakura nodded.

"Need to find her," she said. "Something's wrong."

"Yes, but we can't just go rushing in," Kakashi mused, "That'll just scare her away again."

"Whatever the case, we need to find her," Naruto said, "She's on Leaf Village property!"

"What if just one of us goes?" Sakura proposed. "The others can watch from the trees and step in if they need to."

Kakashi nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

We decided that I would be the one to talk to her. My job was simply to approach her gently and get information.

The girl didn't make it too far from where we first saw her. She seemed really weak, and judging by the drops of blood she left behind, had at least one serious injury. We found her again in a clearing, huddled against one of the trees. I slowly made my way forward, keeping in plain sight so I wouldn't scare her.

When the girl saw me coming, she jumped to her feet and tried to run for it. But before she could take a few steps, she collapsed. Her legs wouldn't even hold her anymore.

"No! Just leave me alone!" She was trembling so hard it almost looked like she was having a seizure.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," I told her. "Why are you here?"

She looked up at the sky. The leaves were rustling in the wind, and two birds flew by overhead, chirping into the sunlight. "I'm running," she whispered. "I can't go back."

Okay. That's confusing. I glanced up at the rest of my squad. They didn't seem to know what to say either.

The girl followed my gaze and saw my squad in the trees. I thought that she would try to run for it, but she just curled up in the grass.

"Kill me," she barely whispered. "Just kill me now." Her whole body shuddered, and then she lay still.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree to stand next to me, and Naruto and Sakura followed.

"Is she dead?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kakashi answered, "she's still breathing. But we need to take her to the hospital."

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed! I'm going to be doing another Naruto Fanfic soon. Who do you think should star in it? Answer in the reviews please!


	4. Chapter 4

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

I was sitting in the girl's room, listening to her heart monitor. It was two days after we found her in the woods. When we rushed her to the hospital, the nurse said that she was dehydrated, starved, and suffering from lack of sleep. On top of that, she had burns along her arms and up her back, and a stab wound in her thigh. It was a miracle she was still breathing.

The girl still hadn't woken up yet. But we know why she left her village.

A few days ago, a couple ninja had left our village for a joint mission with two of the vine ninja. When our ninja came back, they had bad news.

The Vine Village was gone.

The entire village was slaughtered and burned to the ground. There was no trace of who did it or what happened.

Except for this girl. She was obviously from the Vine Village.

That must be where she was running from.

There were so many mysteries surrounding this girl. All we could do is wait for her to wake up.

I jerked awake. For a second I couldn't figure out where I was. Then I remembered. I was still in the girl's hospital room. I must have dozed off.

I looked at the girl. She was curled up on her side with tears streaming down her face. As I watched, I could see her eyes moving back and forth underneath her eyelids. Was she dreaming about whatever happened to her village?

Suddenly, her eyes flew open. We stayed like that for a second, each staring into the other's eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked me.

"You're in the Leaf Village hospital," I answered.

She looked around. "How long have I been out?"

"A few days." I hesitated. "My name's Sasuke."

"I'm Kawai." She looked at me. "You're from the Uchiha clan, aren't you?"

"Yes. And you're from the Vine Village, right?"

She looked up at the ceiling. "Yes," she whispered.

I was almost afraid to mention her village. If anyone knows what it's like to see a massacre, it's me.

"There is no Village Hidden in the Vines anymore," Kawai said. "They're gone."

"We know," I told her, "Two of our ninja got there just after the incident. They rushed back here to tell us."

She just stared at the ceiling. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I shouldn't be alive," Kawai said.

I looked down at the floor. "I know how you feel," I told her. "My whole clan was wiped out a few years ago. But I guess you already know that."

"Yeah. The Uchiha clan."

Silence. Then she asked me, "Can you help me sit up?"

"Yeah." I went to go help her, but when she moved her left leg, she cried out in pain. Her face turned white.

"I forgot about that," Kawai said. "Someone stabbed me during the attack."

She looked around. "Where's my ribbon?"

"It's in the other room. Want me to go get it?"

Kawai smiled. "No, I've got it."

A bright purple streak shot out from under the door and flew into her hand. It was her ribbon.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"I control it," she said simply.

"Do you use chakra?"

"Not really. It's tied to my life force."

Okay then. I tried to play it off like I knew what she was talking about.

"When do I get out of the hospital?" Kawai asked.

"I don't know."

Just then, Kakashi walked in.

"Ah. I see you've woken up," he said. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke's Sensai. And you are?"

"Kawai Mojiretsu," Kawai answered. She looked more uncofortable with Kakashi in the room.

"Well then. Now that you're awake, I need to ask you some questions, Kawai," Kakashi began.

Kawai shrank against the pillows she was leaning on. "What kind of questions?" she asked in a small voice.

"I need to ask you about what happened to your village," Kakashi replied gently.

I could see tears welling up in Kawai's eyes. "No! I can't," she choked out. "Leave me alone."

Unfortunately, I knew what she felt like. The same thing had been said to me when I woke up after that day.

"We need to find out who did this, Kawai," Kakashi continued. "It's for the safety of our village."

"I don't know who did it!" She was practically shouting now. "I couldn't see their faces, okay?!"

Kakashi paused. Then he bowed his head. "Very well then," he said. "I will report to the Hokage that you don't know anything about the attackers." He began to leave the room.

"Wait!" Kawai said. Kakashi turned around.

"I do know one thing," Kawai whispered. "They kept saying the same thing. They told us all it was a test. They were testing us, for something bigger than our village."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you, Kawai. I'll tell the Hokage immediately." With that he walked out, closing the door behind him.

When I looked back at Kawai, she had her face buried in her arms. She was crying.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to review and recommend your favorite character for my next story!


	5. Chapter 5

"So! That girl's kinda pretty! What's she like, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Naruto, Sakura, and I were eating lunch at the ramen shop. Naruto's idea, of course.

"Why don't you just go and talk to her yourself?" I grumbled to Naruto. I really wasn't in the mood for a questioning.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! Let's go there now!"

A few minutes later, I found myself standing outside of Kawai's hospital room. Naruto had dragged Sakura and I there.

Naruto knocked on the door.

"Come in," Kawai replied.

Naruto barged in jumping up and down. "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" he yelled. "What's your name?"

Kawai was sitting up in her bed playing with her ribbon.

"I'm Kawai Mojiretsu," she replied, with a half smile one her face. She glanced at me. I shrugged. What can you do?

"My name is Sakura," Sakura said. "I hope you're out of the hospital soon.

"Me too," Kawai replied. She stared out the window.

"So anyway," Naruto cut in, "what was the deal with you not wanting us to know what village you were from? What was that all about?"

"Naruto!" Sakura glared at him.

"No, it's okay," Kawai told her. She looked at Naruto. "I didn't know what villages had just attacked my village. I didn't want to give away where I was from, because had you been the ones to destroy my village, you probably would've tried to kill me."

"Ohhh," Naruto replied.

"What's that big ribbon for?" Sakura asked.

"It's my weapon." Kawai flicked her hand. The ribbon shot over to Naruto, tied him up, and hung him from the ceiling before any of us could move.

"Hey! Get me down from here!" Naruto shouted.

Kawai laughed. The ribbon untied Naruto and lowered him gently to the ground. It then returned to Kawai's hand.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Sakura exclaimed. I tried to hide it, but I was just as impressed as she was.

"I can't go telling you everything, can I?" Kawai laughed.

Behind me, Kakashi walked in. "Well," he said, "I can see you've all become acquainted." He turned to Kawai. "Miss Mojiretsu, you have been cleared to leave the hospital. For the time being, you will be training with Squad 7."

Kawai nodded.

"Now," Kakashi continued, "the only problem is as to where you can stay."

"She can stay at my place," I offered. Everyone turned around to stare at me. I myself wasn't even sure why I had offered.

After a second, Kawai shrugged. "Why not?" she said.

Kakashi looked a little taken aback, but he quickly got over it.

"Well then," he said, "that's settled. I expect to see you all on the bridge at seven o'clock sharp tomorrow morning.

Naruto and Sakura groaned. "Yes, Sensei," they both mumbled.

Author's Note: Thanks for all of your support! Please review with whichever Naruto character you would like to star in my next Fanfic, and don't forget to check out my two other stories and my poll!


	6. Chapter 6

"So... why exactly were you so eager to have me stay at your house?" Kawai asked me. We were walking to my place. She had just gotten out of the hospital.

I shrugged. "Better than staying at Naruto's. His place is a mess."

She laughed. "I don't doubt it. He seems all over the place."

"That's Naruto," I sighed.

"Do you know what we're doing tomorrow for training?" Kawai asked.

I shook my head. "Kakashi likes to keep us guessing. He says he needs to keep us 'on our toes'."

"Great," she said sarcastically. "Hopefully it's nothing too boring."

"Hm. If there's one thing Kakashi isn't, it's boring."

A few minutes later we arrived at my house. It's nothing too fancy. One bedroom, a small kitchen, and a tiny living room with nothing in it.

I set Kawai up with some blankets and a pillow in the living room. When I was done, she looked up at me.

"You're not gonna try anything, are you?" she smirked.

"Really? Is that who you see me as?" I asked.

She laughed. "I guess not."

I walked towards my bedroom. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight."

My eyes flew open. I was in bed, and judging by the moonlight, it was the middle of the night. What had woken me?

Then I heard it. Someone was crying. It sounded like it was coming from the living room. But who was in there? Then I remembered. Kawai.

I slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hall. I peered around the corner. It was definitely Kawai crying. She seemed to be having another nightmare. I decided to wake her up.

I walked over to where she was sleeping. Tear trails ran down her face, and she was trembling slightly.

"No," she whispered. "No!"

I gently shook her. "Kawai, wake up," I said. Her eyes blinked open. She sat up so fast her forehead hit my chin. "Ow," I muttered.

Kawai looked around. "Where... Oh."

"That was a pretty bad nightmare," I said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered quietly. "I'm sorry for waking you."

I got up to go back to bed. "Are you gonna be all right?" I asked.

"No." Kawai rolled onto her side.

"What if I slept in heretonight?" I ventured. "Would that make it better?"

She looked at me and nodded.

"Okay. I'll bring my stuff in."

So I got some blankets and slept on the floor next to her. I felt so weird. And not because I was sleeping next to a girl. I hadn't reached out like that in... a long time. It felt kind of good.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please suggest your favorite character in a review for my next Naruto Fanfic!


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, I woke up just after dawn. The sky was still pink from the rising sun, and I could hear birds chirping in the trees. I looked over at Kawai, only to find that she want in her bed. Where was she?

I looked in the kitchen and my bedroom, but I couldn't find her. I decided to look outside.

When I walked out the door, I spotted her. She was sitting in the grass, watching the rising sun. I sat down next to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, without taking he eyes off the sky.

"Hm. It's okay," I answered. I don't exactly enjoy staring at a ball of gas, but whatever.

"I guess we need to start walking to the bridge, huh?" she said. Kawai stood up. "Lead the way."

As we were walking, I noticed that Kawai had her ribbon tied around her waist, with the bow on her back. I frowned.

"Why don't you tie your ribbon in the front?" I asked her. "Wouldn't it be easier to use?"

She laughed. "It doesn't really matter how I tie it," she said. "It's always easy to use. And anyway, the only time a Mojiretsu ties their ribbon in the front is when they're dead."

"Oh. Okay." I nodded.

A few minutes later we arrived at the bridge. Sakura was already there, but Naruto and Kakashi were late, as usual.

"Mornin'" Sakura yawned to us. Kawai and I just nodded. Naruto came racing towards the bridge. "Sorry I'm late!" he shouted, "I had to eat my ramen!" I rolled my eyes.

For the next two hours, the four of us just sat one the bridge, yawning and occasionally dozing off. Finally, Kakashi arrived, reading the stupid book he always has with him.

"Sorry I'm late," he said without looking up from his book. "My alarm clock broke."

Sakura jumped up. "Sure it did!" she yelled at him. "It's always something, isn't it?"

Kakashi just laughed. "Well, I guess we better begin your training exercise."

"What is it? What is it?!" Naruto begged.

"Today," Kakashi explained, "you will be picking flowers."

"Flowers?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Seriously? That's our ninja training?"

"Yes," Kakashi calmly replied.

"How is that supposed to help me become Hokage?" Naruto demanded. For one I agreed with him. How is picking flowers training?

"The town needs flowers picked for the summer solstice festival," Kakashi said, "And I told them that my whole team would be happy to help."

"Fine..." Naruto grumbled.

Sakura and Kawai just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"What is it now?" I asked them.

"You... you three!" Sakura giggled between laughs. Kawai nodded. I just rolled my eyes. Girls.

Author's Nots: A big shout-out to crazymel2008 and XxAshishxX for reviewing and Elemental1000 and PolarisLittleWitch for following! Don't forget to put your favorite Naruto character in a review for a chance for them to be in my upcoming Fanfic!


	8. Chapter 8

Kakashi took us to a meadow just outside of the village. It was full of flowers of every color you could imagine. Sakura and Kawai quickly got to work, racing around picking as many flowers as they could. Naruto and I just stood there.

"Sooo... Uhhh... What exactly do we do?" Naruto asked.

"Just pick flowers. It's not all that complicated," Kakashi answered.

Naruto and I awkwardly bent down and began to pick flowers. If any of the other ninja teams saw us now, we'd be toast.

"Hey, guys!" a voice shouted from the edge of the woods. It was Ino, with the rest of her team. I sighed. Just my luck.

Ino's team began making their way towards us.

"What are you all doing?" Choji asked.

"Picking flowers!" Sakura brightly replied. I inwardly face palmed.

"P-picking flowers?" Choji said, trying not to laugh.

"Yep," Sakura answered, that ridiculous grin on her face.

"We're dead," Naruto sighed under his breath.

"That's... manly." Shikamaru commented.

"Who's this?" Ino asked, pointing to Kawai.

"This is Kawai. She's from the Village Hidden in the Vines. Kawai, these are Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji," Sakura said, pointing to each ninja in turn.

"Nice to meet you," Ino told Kawai.

"So I hear that tomorrow there's going to be a tournament between all the Genine for training," Shikamaru said.

"Really?! There is? That's great!" Naruto exclaimed. I tried to act unimpressed, but I was excited as well.

"It's going to be such a drag," Shikamaru complained.

"Aww, cheer up," Ino told him. "We get to test our skills on the others!" She glared at Sakura. "And if I fight a certain someone, I'll be sending her straight to the emergency room," Ino growled, flames dancing in her eyes.

"Oh yeah?!" Sakura yelled. "We'll see about that!"

Naruto leaned over to Kawai. "Those two have... a thing against each other. They're both madly in love with Sasuke," he informed her.

"What did you say?!" they both growled at him.

"Ahh... nothing! Nothing at all!" Naruto lied, waving his hands in front of him.

"Naruto..." Sakura curled her hands into fists.

"Okay! That's enough." Kakashi stepped in between Sakura and Naruto.

"Fine." Sakura turned on her heel and walked back over to Kawai, who seemed torn between confusion and amusement.

"If you three didn't come to help pick flowers, then I suggest you go finish your training," Kakashi told Ino's squad.

"Right then! We're off!" All three ran back towards the woods.

"See you tomorrow!" Naruto called after them.

Author's Note: This one's just short and sweet. :) But the Genine tournament's going to be exciting! Thanks to XxAshishxX for reviewing again, AllUsernamesHaveBeenTaken, . , and MelissaRM1995 for following, and . and MelissaRM1995 for favoriting as well. Your supports means a lot!

Don't forget to put your favorite Naruto character in a review for a chance for them to star in my upcoming story, and check out my two other stories and my poll in my profile!


	9. Chapter 9

That night, Kawai and I were back at my house. I could tell that she was nervous about going to sleep.

"Do you want me to sleep in here again?" I asked her. She nodded.

I awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. We had a little extra time that morning, since the tournament didn't start until 10:00.

I got up and got dressed. Kawai woke up a few minutes after I did, and she got dressed as well. We set out for the "arena", which was actually just a clearing in the woods. I tried not to let it show, but I was pretty excited.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the clearing. Team Guy was already there, as well as Sakura.

"Hey guys!" Sakura called us over to where she was standing, talking with Ten Ten.

"Kawai, this is Ten Ten, Negi, Lee, and Guy Sensei," Sakura informed her, pointing to each ninja in turn. "Everyone, this is Kawai." Kawai smiled and waved.

The three girls went off to go talk and do whatever girls do. That left me and Negi. (Guy and Lee were at the edge of the clearing doing push-ups on their thumbs.)

"So that girl... She just appeared? In the woods?" Negi asked me. I nodded.

"And she's the only survivor from her village..." he mused.

Just then, Kurenai's team arrived. I could hear Akumaru barking happily as he charged into the clearing with Kiba.

"The party has arrived!" he shouted. I just rolled my eyes and looked unimpressed.

"Hey Hinata!" Sakura called. "Long time no see!"

"Oh, hi," Hinata replied quietly. She was always quiet. I wonder why.

As soon as Shino had walked into the clearing, Naruto came racing in. He skidded to a halt, spraying Negi and I with dust.

"Loser," I muttered.

"I'm not late, am I?" Naruto looked around wildly.

"You're ten minutes early, knucklehead," Sakura replied dryly.

She turned to Kawai. "This is Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai Sensei," she informed her.

"Hi," Kawai said to them.

A few minutes of chatter went by. Asuma's team arrived, and joined the group. Now the only person we were waiting for was Kakashi.

"Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said. "He couldn't come to a place on time to save his life.

Finally, fifteen minutes after ten, Kakashi arrived.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "My laundry blew away, so I had to go collect it all."

"It's not even windy today!" Sakura protested.

"Well then," Guy said. "Let's begin."

Thanks to XxAshishxX for reviewing again and nachobeats823 and bloodfirexT for following! I have published my new Naruto story, Desert Radiance! It's going to be staring Gaara and my OC Akurui. I'm also going to start a poll for your favorite Naruto character, and whoever wins at the end of the month will star in my next story. Thanks for reading!

P.S. I know at this point in the anime the other Genine aren't supposed to be introduced yet, but for the story's sake, I'm going to overlook that.


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